ABOUT ME

“Some moments are nice, some are nicer, some are even worth writing about.”

—Charles Bukowkski

As much as I love blogging and writing, the idea of composing an entire page all about me was a bit overwhelming. I mean, where do I start? I was a seven-pound baby born in Tooele, Utah . . . or I started blogging on November 8, 2008 as a way to voice my frustrations at the political system  . . . or I’d like to thank the Academy . . . None of these seemed to fit.

So . . . Hi. How are you? My name is Jenny, and this is my corner of cyberspace. In my life BB (Before Blogging), I never really fancied myself as much of a writer, but I dove headfirst into blogging five years ago. When I was prompted during setup to name my new blog, I tried to think of something clever, but I could hardly concentrate with all of the commotion surrounding me at the time. Six kids (at the time—now there are seven), a dog, a husband, and constantly blaring PBS kids in the background can wear on a girl, ya know? I thought, “Why am I doing this? I live in an insane asylum!!” And that, my friends, is how Denton Sanatorium came to be.

My blog has evolved over the years, just as I have.  Sometimes I blog about my family and share way too many pictures of my beautiful, crazy, brilliant, often-disobedient-but-always-adored children (and now grandchildren—it’s weirdly fantastic to be called grandma, just you wait for it).

Sometimes I document a ton of home improvement projects, anything from reorganizing my ever-expanding collection of kids’ books to rearranging my hundreds of treasures (I even have a dedicated area in my house dubbed “The Tchotchke Closet”). Sometimes I share my love for auctions, and sometimes I write about my love for yoga and running. Sometimes I review my favorite movies or TV shows (“Survivor” and “The Amazing Race”), and sometimes I write about the people I encounter in the world. Sometimes I write about what it’s like to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), and sometimes I write about my struggles with raising kids or fighting sugar cravings (usually accompanied by a picture of a creepy little monkey). Sometimes I think deeply, and sometimes I just record crazy, silly stuff. Sometimes I wax political or try to be poetic (that's actually Tucker's poem!), but I am always honest. If I publish it, you can trust that I believe it.

Bottom line about Denton Sanatorium—I blog about life. My life. I always try to keep it real, like you were sitting in the kitchen with me and we were chatting about things. I don’t Pinterest-proof my life—what you see is how we are (although if you want to pin what you see, I would be quite flattered and frankly surprised). I show the messy moments combined with the magical ones, the successes paired with the pains, the profound alongside the ordinary--and I hope that by recording the moments of life, my family and friends will come to know who I truly am.

And hopefully take care of me in my old age.